CrowdStrike CEO Testifies Before Congress Regarding Global IT Outage

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz has been summoned to testify before Congress following a significant global IT outage triggered by a recent software update. Lawmakers from the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection have formally requested Kurtz provide a comprehensive explanation of the incident that disrupted systems worldwide.

Last week, CrowdStrike released an update to its security software, which inadvertently caused widespread malfunctions in systems running Microsoft Windows. This resulted in nationwide flight cancellations and businesses being locked out of critical software, many of which displayed the notorious "Blue Screen of Death."

Congressmen Mark Green and Andrew Garbarino expressed in their letter to Kurtz, “The American public deserves detailed insights into how this incident occurred and what steps CrowdStrike is taking to mitigate future risks.” They further acknowledged the company's efforts to respond and coordinate with stakeholders but emphasized that the scale of this outage could be unprecedented in IT history.

In the aftermath of the disruption, CrowdStrike promptly rolled out a patch for the faulty software while Microsoft provided a recovery tool to assist IT teams in restoring affected machines. Lawmakers stressed the importance of learning from this incident, warning that malicious cyber actors, including those from adversarial nations like China and Russia, are closely observing the U.S. response. They noted, “Protecting our critical infrastructure necessitates a thorough understanding of this incident to prevent recurrence.”

Kurtz is expected to appear before the Subcommittee on July 24. CrowdStrike confirmed to The Verge that they are maintaining active communication with lawmakers regarding the testimony.

Global IT Outage: Current Status

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Kurtz acknowledged the gravity of the situation and offered an apology. The company’s stock price suffered a significant blow, plummeting by 13% on the first trading day following the incident. Shawn Henry, CrowdStrike's chief security officer and former executive assistant director at the FBI, stated on LinkedIn that the trust the company had built up over the years was eroded in a matter of hours.

IT systems across the world have gradually come back online; however, the recovery has been slow, with many systems requiring manual reboots—a process that can be both labor-intensive and time-consuming. Airlines were among the worst affected, experiencing widespread flight delays, although most have resumed operations. Delta Airlines has faced the most significant challenges, with ongoing delays affecting travelers. According to Delta CEO Ed Bastian, the company is operating continuously to restore its systems, with a substantial number still in need of manual repairs. He urged staff to maintain exceptional service for customers throughout the recovery efforts.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg indicated that the agency has received numerous complaints from Delta passengers regarding the ongoing disruptions and what has been described as “unacceptable customer service.” He affirmed on X, “I have made clear to Delta that we will hold them to all applicable passenger protections.”

It’s important to note that this extensive outage predominantly affected systems operating on Windows, leaving users on Mac and Linux platforms largely unaffected.